In a country the size of ours–or of any size, really–there’s going to be some localities that have a different view of things from other localities. The best systems of government tend to take this into account by giving the majority a powerful voice in federal politics, yet also balance that voice by providing some protection for the minority.

Right now, anti-gun mayors are upset. They want gun control and they want it at the federal level.

Hundreds of mayors convened in the nation’s capital on Wednesday to address the challenges facing their communities, with the issue of gun violence top of mind.

City leadership from Washington, D.C., Dayton, Ohio and across the country spoke to reporters and implored Congress to more aggressively address illegal guns, ghost guns and gun violence on a federal level.

“We are seeing no movement out of the capital, and our communities are begging for this change,” Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said.

…

“We know that we really need the Congress to act on a national policy for common-sense gun regulations,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters. “I want the Congress to be able to pass a sensible bill that protects us.”

Bowser pointed to lax gun laws in surrounding states Maryland and Virginia, as well as the availability of the parts needed to build ghost guns — home-assembled firearms that are difficult to trace due to their lack of a serial number — for the city’s gun violence.

Maryland.

Lax gun laws.

Hilarious.

However, if Bowser and Whaley really want to lament the lack of gun control at the federal level, they need to talk to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats in the House.

You see, they wanted gun control. Their allies in the media were pushing for it. They did such a good job that President Donald Trump was on board and willing to consider gun control policies. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was on the record as saying they’d pass pretty much whatever policies the president wanted.

It was all but over. Many of us, myself included, resigned ourselves to the fact that we were getting new federal gun control laws.

Then Pelosi and company decided to push forward with impeachment.

In that moment, President Trump lost any interest in helping Democrats with their agenda. Why wouldn’t he? After all, if he’s gearing up for a tough fight, the last thing in the world he needed to do was alienate his gun-loving base. Advancing gun control would have been beyond stupid, and say what you want about Trump, he’s not stupid.

And for what? If Democrats want gun control on the books, they’re even less likely to get it from a President Pence than from President Trump, who at least was willing to deal.

While I vehemently oppose all forms of gun control, I can also recognize where the fault lies for gun control not passing.

These mayors can be furious all they want, but it was their fellow Democrats who are responsible for no gun control passing, oddly enough, and not Donald Trump.